Decommission Pending
by FrostShadowStar
Summary: No matter how good of an agent you are or were, the day eventually comes when you must face decommissioning.
1. Choices

Two girls sat side by side on a swing set.

They were the only two kids in the playground but that was okay. It was getting late anyway and they'd both have to be getting home soon.

"So….birthday tomorrow huh?"

"Yeah…"

The darker skinned of the two dug one of her shoes into the gravel beneath her swing. Almost panicky, the girl turned to her friend, the words falling from her mouth in a rush

"We'll still be friends right?"

Swinging her swing to the side to give her friend a playful nudge, the other girl smiled as she answered.

"Always."

The first girl smiled at the other's promise before worry chased it off again. "How can you be so sure though? No one ever remembers the Kids Next Door after decommissioning."

Her friend lightly pushed against the ground. "I just do. We've been through too much for me to just forget about you Cree. Remember what we promised each other that first week at the Artic Base when we found out how close our birthdays were?"

Cree nodded. "Through thick and thin…"

"….we'll be best friends forever…"

"…long after we're out of the KND" Cree finished.

Her friend nodded. "Exactly. Sides, how could I honestly forget the operative whose saved my butt more times than I'd like to admit?"

Cree couldn't help shooting her friend a teasing smirk. "Well maybe if you and your team weren't so foolhardy, my sector wouldn't have to bail you out so much."

The girl laughed as she pushed a strand of frizzy blonde hair back behind her ear. "We're only 'foolhardy' because _your_ sector's too busy trading Yipper cards to take any incentive to fight adult tyranny."

"Oooh _no_. You did _not_ just go there."

Her friend stuck her tongue out at her. "I did. Whatcha gonna do 'bout it?"

"Get off that swing and I'll show ya what I'm gonna do to ya" Cree teased.

Before their banter could go any further, however, a woman's voice rang across the playground. "Giiiiiiiirls! Wrap it up please, it's getting late."

The two girls' smiles shrank as they looked at each other for what would be the last time as Kids Next Door operatives.

Cree held out a hand to help pull her friend off the swing.

"It's been a pleasure working with you Numbuh 27."

The girl nodded as her grip tightened around Cree's fingers. "It's been a pleasure working with you too Numbuh 11."

Before Cree could say another word, her friend had pulled her into a deep hug. "See you on the other side Cree."

"Promise you won't forget me." Cree whispered.

"I won't if you promise not to forget about me."

"Promise."

The two broke apart; Numbuh 27 offering Cree one last warm smile before turning towards her house.

Cree watched her go, trying and failing to shake the feeling of dread that clung to her as she waited for her best friend to disappear from view. Only then did she start heading her home as well.

Impatiently, Cree shifted her weight for what felt like the thousandth time. Realistically, she knew she'd only been standing outside of April's house for about a minute but it _felt_ like forever and a half.

 _Finally_ the door opened. A plumpish woman with graying blonde hair smiled down at her.

"Why _hello_ Cree. I was wondering if you'd stop by today. Come on in."

"Hello Mrs. Springingstein." Cree replied as she made her way into the house, tightly gripping the present she'd brought with her. "Is April upstairs then?"

"Yes indeed-y! Haven't seen the birthday girl all day myself she's been so busy redecorating her room."

Cree bit her lip. "...redecorating?" that didn't sound like April at all...maybe Mrs. Springingston meant she was cleaning before their joint birthday party later this week.

"I'll uh just head upstairs then..."

"You do that dearie. I'm sure April will be just delighted to see you. Let me know if you girls need anything."

Giving the adult a quick nod, Cree ran upstairs to April's room. The door was wide open and for a second, Cree was sure she'd somehow ended up in the wrong room.

Every inch of every wall was plastered with a poster of some boy band or some sad eyed puppy dog.

It was the very definition of teendom.

"Oh hey, you're early!"

Cree smiled at the familiar voice; meeting her friend's eyes, Cree was relieved that April remained about the same. Sure she may have covered her walls with some boring teen heart throbs, the decommissioning process was known to have some strange side effects from time to time, but she still remembered her. And that was all that mattered.

"I wanted to give you your present early!" Cree teased back, tossing the girl the boxed gift. "That way it's not buried under the mounds of other gifts you're sure to get."

"A gift from you? Buried? Pffft nah; it'd be at the top of the pile!"

Grinning, Cree sat down on April's bed. "So, whadda waiting for? Open it!"

With a smile just as big as Cree's, April flopped onto the bed right next to her and eagerly unwrapped the gift. As soon as the paper had been ripped off and the box discarded however, April's easy smile and changed into a forced one.

"Uh thank you? This isn't the actual gift is it? Like, this is just a joke right?"

Cree's smile froze and deep inside, an icy ball of dread was making itself comfortable in her belly.

"No...of course not. D-Don't you like it? Just last week you were telling me all about the new Rainbow Monkey doll you wanted. Isn't that the one you wanted?"

April stared at the doll for a moment before crinkling her nose and shoving the toy back into Cree's hands. "Oh my _god_ Cree! Why would I want some cruddy _kid's_ toy? I'm _thirteen_ years old for god's sake!"

Cree could feel tears forming in her eyes as she stared at April in horror. "But yesterday-"

" _Grow up_ _Cree_ " April snarled. "I'm too old for baby toys and you should be too. God. I don't know why my mom's making me share a party with a kid like _you_."

She was shaking. From anger or hurt or both she didn't know. But what Cree did know was that April had lied. She hadn't remembered her and had become a cruddy teenager to boot.

Settling on anger, Cree stood up and threw the toy at April's stupid promise breaking face. "Well FINE! I don't want to share a birthday party with you either! I hope you choke on your birthday cake you brat!"

And with that, Cree stormed out of April's room before she could say anything back or worse, see her crying her eyes out.

"You don't understand Maurice, the girl I was friends with is _gone_."

"Well maybe if you tried talking to her again Cree, I'm sure-"

" _There's no talking to her!_ Don't you think I've tried? It's not working. I _hate_ her. More than any adult we've ever fought."

"You can't honestly m-"

"Just yesterday I caught her picking on Abby. _On Abby_. She used to adore her. Numbuh 27 doesn't exist anymore. The KND killed her."

"CREE! You know that's not true! The kids next door would never hurt another kid. Are you listening to me? Cree?"

"Are you sure Cree? Mama gave you this hat-"

"And I'm giving it to you. You've earned it kiddo." Cree smiled as she pulled the hat out of her sister's hands and placed it on top of her head. "You look good in red. Better than I ever did."

Abby grinned. "I don' know 'bout that. You look good in jus 'bout anythin."

Cree's smile shrank a little as she gazed down at her sister. "You'll take care of them, won't you Abby? These knuckleheads won't survive without a little tough love and common sense every now and again."

Abby pulled the hat down over her eyes and grinned. "Of course I will. But that won't be till another couple days ya know. You're still leader for just a little longer."

"Actually Abby...I'm not. You are."

"Whadda talkin 'bo-?"

Before the younger girl could finish her question, her sister had given her a hard shove into her room and slammed a fist on the control panel beside it-causing the door to slam down between them and lock.

"Cree? Cree! Whadda doing?! Cree open this door! CREE!"

"You'll understand when you're my age Abby. The Kids Next Door don't help kids. They ruin them."

Turning on her heel, Cree walked away; ignoring the cries from her sister and the sound of small fists hitting a metal door.

She'd almost made it to the hanger before one of her former teammates grabbed her by the shirt and slammed her against the wall.

"Cree, listen to me. You're making the biggest mistake of your life."

The soon to be teen glared at him. "Am I Numbuh 9? Because from where I stand, I'm making one of the best decisions of my life."

"Oh yeah? And what kind of example are you setting for your sister? That when things get tough, when former operatives don't remember you, to turn traitor and _sabotage a mission?!_ "

"If that's what it takes to keep my memories, to stay the person my sister and family and friends know me as then _yes. And I hope to God Abby doesn't stick with this bogus organization long enough for you to erase the kind of person she is either!"_

Not waiting for him to even try to counter her reasoning or worse, bring her in for decommissioning right then and there, Cree rammed her knee into his stomach and ran for it as he crumpled to the floor in pain.

She would never let them catch her and erase her memories, erase _her_.

And if she had to, she would wage war on the entire organization so they couldn't do the same to her sister as well.


	2. Birthday Blues

Gently, Cree shook her younger sister's shoulder.

"Abigail," she cooed, barely keeping her excitement under check. She had waited a long time for this day. "Time to wake up."

A muffled grumble was her only reply as Abby stubbornly shook her sister's hand off to pull the covers over her head.

Gritting her teeth, Cree ripped the sheets off of her again. On one hand, falling back on old tactics would hinder her more than help but on the other she didn't have all night to wait patiently for Abby to wake up on her own.

True to form, Abby shot up out of bed, eyes narrowed and armed with a mustard blaster.

"I'm gonna give you to the count of _five_ to get outta my room so Numbuh 5 can get back to some well earned shut eye."

A sly smile crossed Cree's face. "If you insist but first..."

Abby tensed as her sister moved towards her but to her great surprise and confusion, found herself in a bear-crushing hug.

"Let me be the first to wish you 'Happy 13th Birthday' Abby!"

Cree pulled back to better see her sister's face. To say she was stunned would be an understatement. The entire bed could be pulled out from beneath her and Cree doubted Abby would be any more shocked.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this day Abby." Cree's grip tightened "For us to be _sisters_ again."

Abby's expression softened. "Cree..."

"Now if we wanna be long gone before those brats get here to decommission you, I advise you to pack light. We won't have to be in hiding too long. Once they get wind that you're in the Teen Ninjas, you won't have to worry about the Decommissioning Squad coming after you."

"Cree."

"And don't worry about your old sector. If you want, we can wait for their birthdays to roll around and nab them too!"

"CREE!"

Cree froze and now it was her turn to stare at her sister in confusion. Abby was out of her bed, and was refusing to meet her sister's eyes.

"Cree... _I can't_. I-I'm the Soopreme Leader of the Kids Next Door now. I have to set an example a-and that means decommissioning."

An awkward silence stretched between them before Cree clenched her fists. "So? Chad was the Soopreme Leader and _he_ left! And The Steve, _Numbuh 100,_ ditched the Kids Next Door before him! Heck! Even that blonde kid before you ran off before they could decommission her! _So what makes you so different Abigail?!_ "

"I have to set an example-"

" _Don't you dare give me that load of crud Abby!_ If you cared at all about setting an example you would never have passed your leadership over to Numbuh 1 and so help me I will drag you out of this house whether you want to or nor. _I will not let that sorry excuse of an organization destroy a vital part of who you are!"_

Abby's shoulders fell. And for a moment, Cree was sure that her sister understood what she was getting at and that she really wouldn't have to drag her kicking and screaming to the teen ninja's base. But then Abby opened her mouth.

"Cree. I _want_ to forget."

Cree stumbled a couple of steps backwards as she stared at her sister in horror. She couldn't have heard her right. _She couldn't._

"You don't-"

"Yes Cree I do. I just can't _do_ it anymore." Her voice broke. "The secrets. The lies. I don't want to think about that stuff anymore..."

Her word Abby spoke sent another dagger through Cree's heart. This wasn't how things were supposed to _go_. Abby was supposed to grab her stuff and _leave with her_.

"Y-You won't have to Abby. If you just come with me, you won't _have_ to lie. We can just hang out at the house all day if you want! Don't you want to be sisters again Abby?"

Her sister was silent for a moment before she gave a heavy sigh. "Memories or no memories, I'll always be your sister." A ghost of a smile crossed her face. "Besides, once it's all done and over with, I bet we'll be closer than ever."

"Nothing I say will change your mind, will it?"

"Nothin. And if you even try to drag me out this house, I'll make so much noise kickin your butt the whole neighborhood will hear it."

"...Fine. But you owe me an answer Abby. And since you have your heart set on forgettin everythin you've cared about, I want you to be honest with me."

"...fair 'nough."

"What's the real reason? And don't give me the same crud of not wantin to keep secrets. If that was true, you'd have left long before I even tried recruiting you tonight."

"...it hurts too much to remember Cree. I let somebody close to me down once but they got stronger and braver from it than any kid in the same position would of. And...some people noticed. They're off doin big an' important things now and I couldn't be prouder of 'em but everywhere I go, I'm reminded of them. A-And I just can't handle it anymore. I miss them and everyone keeps askin about them and comparin' me to 'im and to forget everything we did together is gonna be such a _blessing_.

" _Please_ Cree. Let me have this. Not everyone fears being decommissioning."

"Fine. This better be what you really want. I'm not gonna come crashin' into the Moonbase to save your sorry butt once you've changed your mind. It's now or never."

"I know."

If some part of her still held hope that her sister would change her mind and join her, it was utterly crushed as Abby turned her back to her. No more words were needed or said. Abby had made her choice clear and as much as Cree wanted to take her to the rendezvous point to meet the other Teen Ninjas, she knew deep down that Abby would just escape to Moonbase the first chance she got.

But that didn't mean she would give up in fighting those brats. She may not have been able to save her sister from them, but there was something fishy going on with the Kids Next Dorks.

And she would find out what exactly what they were hiding.

No matter what.


End file.
